New trains for the

Autor(en): Scotland, Keith

Objekttyp: Article

Zeitschrift: Swiss express : the Swiss Railways Society journal

Band (Jahr): - (2009)

Heft 97

PDF erstellt am: 25.09.2021

Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-854259

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Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch

http://www.e-periodica.ch NEW TRAINS FOR THE CENTOVALLI Keith Scotland

New SSIFABPe 12/12 panoramic unit No 83 "Masera" at Isella Olga. ALL PHOTOS: Keith Scotland

The Centovalli (One Hundred Valleys) cause of traffic congestion, in 1990. Line runs for some 50km from The metre gauge 1350V dc trains are of , , to in Canton a variety of types, owned roughly 2:1- through wonderfully scenic pre-alpine SSIF/FART, and have a common country. It is jointly owned by the Swiss numbering system. To cope with growing Ferrovie autolinee regionali ticinesi (FART) demand especially from tourists, as well as and the Italian Società Subalpina di Imprese to provide them with a better experience, Ferroviarie (SSIF). Although two-thirds of new trains have been acquired, whilst three the line is in Italy Swiss Passes are accepted of the four existing ABe8/8 units dating and it is well worth a trip. Due to the nature from 1959 have been modernised. of the landscape the road network in the Following their rebuild with panoramic area is poor and there are no competing bus windows, air conditioning, etc they now services so the line, opened in 1923, serves carry 100 passengers in some style and have the local communities with a frequent been well received by Centovalli customers, stopping service. It also has a growing who consider them better than the stylish importance as a tourist railway. The line is ABe 4/6 units that date from 1993. unique in that both its termini are located The new panoramic units are unique in subterranean stations adjacent to the and were ordered following an EU- main line facilities in the two towns. The compliant tender process. This was required tunnel at Locarno replaced street running, a due to SSIF being Italian, so although

MARCH 2009 19 FART was not subject to the EU rules they would have had little choice but to go along with their partners in this instance. The resulting ABPe 12/12 3-car units — all the axles are powered - were assembled in Italy by Officine Ferroviarie Veronesi with components from various suppliers, principally Skoda. To cope with the demanding 50m radius curves and the high specification, the new sets have quite short coaches having angular sides; they have air conditioning and non- opening windows and a small driver's cab to maximise internal space and give passengers good forward visibility. Unfortunately they do have restricted luggage space. They are also EU Person Mobility Reduced (PMR) legislation compliant. Following their introduction it was decided to introduce a fourth un-powered trailer coach into each set, making them

TOP: Historic BCFe 4/4 No 17 owned by FART at Tl 30 07 08.

MIDDLE: Historic Centovalli tram style unit preserved at Santa Maria Maggiore.

LEFT: SSIFABe 4/6 No 62 Re waits at its namesake station.

SWISS EXPRESS ABPe 12/16, increasing their capacity to 200 people. The first two 3-car units were delivered in April 2007 followed by the third unit and the three trailers in October 2007. The basic 3-car units are formed with MPI (Motrice Pilot 1) a driving motor coach with first class compartment and PMR toilet, at the Domodossola end, then M1 trailer motor coach with a standard toilet, and MP2 driving motor coach at the Locarno end. The MP 1 & 2 coaches weigh 32 tonnes whilst the intermediate M1 coach weighs 30.5 tonnes. Together the units develop 1020 kw/122kn which gives them very good acceleration and sufficient power to counter the quite severe gradient profile of the line. These new trains, with comfortable seating, panoramic views and excellent suspension are proving very popular.

TOP: New SSIFABPe 12/ 12 panoramic unit No 81 'Domodossola" at Marone.

MIDDLE: New SSIFABPe 12/12 panoramic unit No 82 departs Camedo.

RIGHT: SSIFABe 4/6 No. 64 "Druogno" sits alongside FARTABe 8/8.

MARCH 2009 21